The Single Mom's Second Chance

by Kathy Douglass

  But those words didn’t feel like part of a dream. They felt real, as if they’d actually been spoken. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.

  Roz wasn’t acting any differently. She wasn’t uncomfortable around him like he’d be if he’d bared his soul to her and silence had been the only response. If anything, she seemed happier, like a weight had been lifted from her slender shoulders. Maybe it was because of her improving health. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

  Perhaps he should just ask her if she’d said it. Then he could stop tormenting himself. Of course, that could make things awkward between them. If he’d dreamed it, she might think he wanted a second chance with her. And if she had said it? What exactly would their future hold? He was still trying to figure out how he felt. Now that anger and resentment were no longer the dominant emotions he felt for her, he was struggling to name his feelings. But he couldn’t make a wise decision while he was sick.

  Not only that, they’d been dealing with so much these past few months. Given the tension and emotions, neither one of them was in a position to make a wise decision about something as serious as a relationship between them. So the best thing to do was to act like it had been a part of his dream. At least until things settled down.

  Sitting up, he stretched and pushed all thoughts away. His fever had broken and he was starting to feel like himself. He was still a little weak, but his body no longer felt as if he’d been hit by a Mack truck. He took a quick shower and returned to his room. He needed to change the sheets and straighten the room.

  As he pulled the soiled linen from the bed, his mind immediately went back to the night Roz had changed the sheets while he’d been lying in the bed. She’d been so near to him that her sweet scent had caressed him like gentle fingers, tempting him to take her into his arms. The only thing that had kept him from giving in to the urge to pull her down beside him was knowing he was contagious. He’d never knowingly put Roz’s health at risk. Still, that hadn’t kept him from watching her every move, getting a good view of her round bottom and her small, delectable breasts. He’d groaned aloud. When she’d looked at him, he’d played it off, pretending he’d groaned because of flu pain. His head and throat had ached with the flu that night, but another part of him had ached with desire.

  He forced the memory from his mind. Hadn’t he just decided that they needed time to figure out what they were going to do? Over the past dozen years, he’d built up an image of who Roz was in his mind and it wasn’t pretty. He’d believed she was fickle and selfish and hundreds of other things just as awful.

  And he’d been wrong. Roz was nothing like he’d pictured. At first he attributed the difference to the illness and her need for his help. If she was kind, it was because she was desperate and afraid to offend him. But with each day, she was getting stronger, more capable of taking care of herself and her kids, yet her personality hadn’t changed for the worse. Quite the opposite. Her sense of humor and spirit of adventure were gradually returning, making her a joy to be around. She was becoming the same girl he’d fallen in love with all those years ago.

  No, that wasn’t right. Sure, Roz still possessed many of the same traits she’d had as a teenager. She still had a dry wit. She still rolled her eyes when she found something ridiculous and chewed on her bottom lip when she disagreed with someone but was trying to avoid an argument.

  But she had a strength now that she’d lacked at seventeen. A confidence that everything would be okay because she was going to make it okay. He knew that if he hadn’t come to her aid, she would have found a way to care for her kids. Although he liked thinking of himself as the hero, he knew she was no damsel in distress. Her strength made her even more desirable.

  He added his T-shirt and pajama bottoms to the pile of sheets, deciding to wash them, as well. He didn’t want his germy laundry mixing with Roz’s. The rational part of him knew germs weren’t passed that way, but he didn’t see any harm in being cautious. Roz’s health was too important for him to risk. She was too important.

  He was buttoning his shirt when his door burst open, banging against the wall and sending a picture crashing to the floor. Suzanne burst into his room. “Guess what, Uncle Paul?”

  “What?”

  “My tooth just came out!” She held out her hand as she ran across the room to give him a closer look. Sure enough, there was a tiny tooth in the middle of her palm.

  “That’s great.”

  Plopping onto the bed, she opened her mouth and pointed to a small hole between two teeth. “I was wiggling it with my tongue and it just popped out. Now I’m a big girl like Megan.”

  “That you are.”

  “I’m going to put it under my pillow so the tooth fairy can bring me a dollar.” She was positively beaming with glee. He hadn’t seen her this happy in a long time and the sight warmed his heart.

  “That’s a good idea. Did you show your mom?”

  “I’m about to.”

  “About to what?” Roz asked, coming into the room.

  “Look,” Suzanne exclaimed. She hopped from the bed and scampered to stand before her mother. She opened her mouth and held out her hand to show Roz her missing tooth.

  “That’s wonderful.” Roz stooped down and gave her daughter a big hug. “I knew that tooth would come out soon.”

  “I’m big.”

  “You most certainly are. Now go put that tooth under your pillow.”

  Paul watched the interaction between mother and child. Roz might not have had loving parents growing up, but she was the best mother he knew. Besides his own mother, that was. Despite Terrence’s death and her illness, Roz had kept her little family together. Would she look for another man to complete that family unit?

  The thought of Roz falling in love and marrying someone else stopped his heart. He wanted her to be happy, of course, but the idea of her finding that happiness with someone else was unsettling. Which just went to show how selfish he was. He couldn’t figure out if he wanted her, but he was certain he didn’t want her with another man. But if he decided things wouldn’t work out between them, he had to face the fact that some lucky guy would come into her life and give her the love she deserved.

  “Sorry about that,” Roz said. She bent over and picked up the picture, and he found his eyes drawn to her firm backside. She inspected the picture for damage before hanging it back on the wall.

  “About what?” He was so distracted that he had lost track of the conversation.

  “Suzanne busting in on you. I’ve told the kids over and over not to disturb you, but I guess she forgot. Losing that first tooth is a big deal.”

  Suzanne hadn’t disturbed him. But Roz was definitely messing with him. Dressed in a fitted pair of jeans that hugged her sweet bottom and a long-sleeved shirt just tight enough to hint at her slim curves, she looked like a dream. His dream. “It’s no problem. Besides, I feel much better. I was about to toss these things into the washing machine.”

  Her eyes moved from his face to his chest and widened as if she was just noticing his shirt was open to the waist. She froze and he found himself unable to move either. The air between them fairly crackled with sexual tension. Time stood still and he couldn’t breathe. Her chest rose and then fell as she blew out a breath. She blinked and looked somewhere over his shoulder.

  “I can do that for you,” she said, reaching for the sheets. Okay, so she was going to pretend the air between them hadn’t been hot enough to scorch them both. He was good with that. It was probably for the best. They didn’t need the complication. He fastened the buttons, leaving only the top one undone.

  “No. I’ll take care of it. You’ve done enough for me.”

  She laughed. “You have it backward. I can never do enough to repay you for everything you’ve done for me and my kids. If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now. I really am grateful, Paul. More grateful than you will ever k
now.”

  “You’re welcome.” The words came out easily because he really meant them. Yet a part of him wanted more than her gratitude. He needed to think about what that something more was. He’d made a mistake once of not knowing how deep his feelings for her were. He wasn’t going to repeat it.

  * * *

  Roz stepped outside Paul’s bedroom and leaned against the wall. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and tried to calm herself. Her heart continued to pound in her chest. My goodness, that man looked good. Paul had always been handsome, but he had become even better looking with age. The teenage body she’d always admired had developed into the fit body of a man. His chest had filled out and his shoulders, arms and back had developed, as well. He was easily the best-built man in North Carolina. Heck, in North America.

  Why was she acting this way? She’d seen his chest before. Just days ago, she’d helped him change his shirt and the sight hadn’t made her break into a sweat. But then he’d been so ill and she’d been preoccupied with his health. It had been easier to stifle her reaction. She definitely wasn’t immune to him now.

  She blew out a breath and opened her eyes. Paul stood a foot away from her. He was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Words fled and she couldn’t think of a plausible explanation as to why she was loitering outside his door. She tried to smile but her lips only trembled.

  Moving slowly, as if in a fog, he closed the distance between them until they were mere inches apart. The sheets clasped in his large hands formed the only barrier between them. The cotton fabric brushed against her breasts. The sheets were thin and didn’t block the heat surging from his body, wrapping around her and singeing her skin. She knew her heart would go up in flames if she didn’t back away, but she didn’t have the strength to move.

  He reached out and touched her face. His fingers were gentle, yet they left a trail of fire behind them. Her brain said to move away, to protect her heart, but her body shot down that notion immediately. His touch felt so good. She wasn’t going anywhere. He dragged his finger across her mouth and a moan slipped through her lips. His eyes were riveted on hers and they communicated wordlessly. Perfectly.

  They’d been in this position once before and they’d been interrupted before she’d been satisfied. Roz wasn’t going to let that happen again. Reaching out, she put her hands on either side of Paul’s face, caressing his skin. He hadn’t shaved over the past few days, and his normally clean-shaven jaw was now covered with a short beard. The hair felt good to the touch and her fingers delighted at the feel. Standing on her tiptoes, she brushed her lips against his.

  Heaven. That was the only word to describe it. Her lips tingled and those tingles shot through every inch of her body, racing from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She felt him inhale, then freeze, and the fear that he would pull away stopped her heart. Before she could react or even breathe, his arms wrapped around her waist and he stepped closer to her, pressing their bodies together. She’d been in heaven before, but there wasn’t a word to describe what she felt now. Every nerve ending in her body short-circuited with pleasure and her entire body weakened until she thought she might dissolve into a puddle of desire.

  She could have kissed Paul forever. She felt him pull away and protested, stepping closer to him. He chuckled and stepped back. “The kids are coming.”

  The haze in her mind was slow to clear. Too slow.

  “Why are you kissing?” Megan asked.

  “Oh, goody. Mommy and Uncle Paul are kissing. And I didn’t have to make them this time.” Suzanne clapped her hands. “Mommy and Uncle Paul are getting married, just like Cinderella and Prince Charming.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Paul looked at the girls’ smiling faces and then at Roz’s strained one. He searched for the right words to set the girls straight without hurting any of their feelings. He was still trying to figure out what he felt for Roz. One thing he knew for sure, neither he nor Roz was in the position to make a permanent commitment to each other. But the girls looked so thrilled at the prospect that he knew they were going to be very disappointed to hear that a marriage wasn’t in the offing.

  He could let Roz be the one to let them down, but that would be unfair to her. He didn’t know how the girls would react, but if there were any negative feelings, he would rather they be directed at him and not Roz. That way Roz’s relationship with her daughters wouldn’t be affected.

  “We aren’t getting married,” he said.

  “But you were kissing,” Megan said. “We saw you.”

  “That’s true. But not everybody who kisses gets married,” he said. Paul kept his gaze on the kids although he really wanted to see how Roz was reacting to his words. Though he’d taken the lead, it wouldn’t hurt for her to chime in now and say something.

  “But Snow White and the prince got married,” Suzanne said.

  “And Tiana and Prince Naveen, too,” Megan added.

  “And Belle and the prince who used to be the beast,” Suzanne said.

  “I know all the stories,” Paul said as he realized they were going to list each and every Disney princess, like young lawyers laying out evidence to prove their point. “But those aren’t real people.”

  The girls looked scandalized so he rushed to continue. “And your mom and I are real people. It doesn’t mean we don’t care for each other. It just means we aren’t in love with each other and don’t want to get married.”

  “You don’t love Mommy?” Suzanne said, sounding positively crushed.

  “You shouldn’t kiss people if you don’t love them,” Megan said. “That’s not nice.”

  “Listen,” Roz said, interrupting before the girls could flay his heart any further, “Uncle Paul is right. We aren’t going to get married. But he is still your uncle and still my friend. So how about we go outside and play on the swing for a while.”

  “Okay, Mommy,” Suzanne said, grabbing her mother’s hand and sticking out her tongue at him over her shoulder before descending the stairs. Megan wagged a disapproving finger in Paul’s face and then followed Roz and Suzanne. Who would have known the girls’ disappointment and disgust with him would hurt so much?

  And what about Roz? She hadn’t looked at him directly once. Perhaps she was embarrassed about initiating the kiss? She shouldn’t be. She may have made the first move, but if the truth be told, she’d only beaten him by a second. He’d been a breath away from pulling her into his arms. But even so, he knew that was a reaction to the desire that had been building between them. They needed time and space to rationally figure out what would be the best thing for them to do. He just hoped Roz knew that, too.

  He picked up the laundry from where he’d dropped it and headed toward the basement laundry room. Once the washer was loaded and going, he went upstairs. Roz and the girls were in the yard, so he decided to make breakfast for them. He told himself he wasn’t exactly trying to bribe them, but he wanted to get back into their good graces.

  He set the table while cooking waffles, frying bacon and scrambling eggs. When it was all done, he called everyone in to eat. Nathaniel piled his plate high with food, pleased with the elaborate meal. It took the girls a while, but eventually they set their disappointment aside and began talking to him again. Apparently, while they were outside playing, Roz had convinced Megan and Suzanne that being friends with him was good enough for her.

  Not that he’d decided that friendship was all he wanted. He hadn’t. What he’d decided was that he didn’t want to make another mistake with her. But since the girls were too young to understand the difference, he didn’t try and explain it. Heck, he barely understood it himself.

  * * *

  After breakfast was done, Nathaniel put his dishes into the sink, then ran out of the kitchen. A minute later, he was back, a piece of paper in his hand. He gave it to Roz, then smiled tentatively at her. What was that about? Her norma
lly gregarious son appeared timid. Apprehension filled her as he handed a similar paper to Paul, who looked at her with a question in his eyes.

  She opened the folded piece of orange paper and then read it. It was a flyer for Sweet Briar’s harvest festival, which would be held two weekends from now. She knew about the festival, although she had no idea of the specific events and when they would be held. She and Paul had already talked about taking the kids there.

  She skimmed the flyer. The carnival, parade, walk/run and an auction to raise funds for the youth center all sounded promising. She continued to read. There was going to be a talent show and a—what? A ball? She hadn’t heard about that. No wonder Nathaniel looked so sheepish. He was at an age where he wasn’t sure just how he felt about girls.

  “We got this at the youth center yesterday and I forgot to give it to you. Can we go?” Nathaniel asked.

  “Sure. To some things. It would be a bit exhausting to try and do everything. We can sit down as a family and decide what to do, okay?” Roz glanced at Paul, who nodded his agreement.

  “What are we deciding?” Megan asked.

  “About the harvest festival weekend,” Nathaniel said before either adult could answer.

  “Oh. Are we going? Miss Joni told us all about it,” Megan asked, clapping her hands. “I want to be in the parade. They said we can decorate our bikes. They’re going to give us candy to throw to the people. I’m going to eat mine. And I want to go to the carnival. They have games and cotton candy.”

  “I want to be in the race,” Nathaniel added. “I’m the fastest kid in my class.”

  “That sounds good,” Roz said.